New Delhi: Amid a tug of war between the Centre and Telangana government over paddy procurement, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader Kalvakuntla Kavita on Thursday warned that farmers will be forced to protest in the national capital, if their entire crop is not purchased.
Kavita, a member of legislative council and daughter of state chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, said the Centre is making various excuses for not procuring parboiled rice from Telangana, and alleged the state is given “step-motherly treatment”.
She also attacked the Union government for going back on its promise of buying paddy from Telangana farmers, and said it should buy the entire crop from the state.
“Telangana produces a large percentage of boiled rice due to unfavorable climatic conditions during the Yasangi season. The central government is constantly talking about buying only raw rice by making various excuses without taking into consideration the impact that their actions will have on our farmers,” Kavita said.
Around 61 lakh farmers have taken to streets in the state, she told reporters here.
Kavita warned the central government that “if the Centre did not pay attention to the feelings of the farmers, they would be forced to agitate on the streets of Delhi.”
Referring to the recent farmers’ agitation which prompted the Centre to repeal three farm laws, she said if the farmers once again sit on the streets of Delhi, the central government will have to bow down and eventually listen to the farmers.
“The central government should not once again create a situation of confrontation with the farmers,” Kavita said.
The responsibility of storing foodgrains rests with the central government, but it is unfortunate that it is “shunning its responsibility and wants to put the entire burden on the state government”, she told reporters.
Alleging the BJP-ruled government at the Centre of having double standard policy, Kavita said on one hand it claims to double farmers’ income, and on the other hand it does not want to buy farmers’ produce.
“While three months of this year have passed, the BJP government should tell when the farmers’ income will be doubled. Far from doubling farmers’ income due to rising inflation every day, debt and expenditure have doubled,” she added.
TRS leaders in the state as well as in Parliament have been demanding the Centre to procure parboiled rice even though the central government has made it clear that it can only procure raw rice and not parboiled rice which is not largely consumed in the country.
Raw rice is not processed or steamed beforehand while parboiled rice is cooked partially and then dehydrated and dried out for sale to consumers.
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